Our series, My Favorite Resource, features interviews with our court ADR friends across the country to learn about their favorite resource. This month, Resource Center Director Nicole Wilmet spoke with Kevin Malone, RSI’s Program Manager for the 16th Circuit Kane County Child Protection and Foreclosure Mediation Programs to learn about his favorite ADR resource.
NW: What is your favorite ADR Resource?
KM: I have several that I rely on, but the one I return to time and again is The Making of a Mediator by Michael Lang and Alison Taylor.
NW: Why do you value this particular resources?
KM: This book provides a great process for bridging the gap between theory and practice. Lang and Taylor provide tools to figure out what a mediator is good at, what they need to work on, and how to find that sweet spot between developing a mediator’s skills and tapping into a mediator’s talents.
NW: How did you first learn about this resources?
KM: It was assigned reading for my graduate work at the University of Denver’s Center for Conflict Resolution. I revisited the book when I began working as a co-mediator for our Child Protection Mediation Program.
NW: For those unfamiliar with this resource, what is one part of this resource that you wouldn’t want someone to miss?
KM: Lang and Taylor have a chapter that walks the reader through their “constellation of theories”. A mediator will be able to figure out what theories they have tucked away and how those theories impact their practice of mediation. I have found this to be a very powerful tool in self-assessment and recommend all the mediators in my program at least once try something similar.
If you have a favorite resource you would like to share in an upcoming edition of our newsletter, please reach out to our Resource Center Director and Court ADR Connection Editor, Nicole Wilmet at nwilmet@aboutrsi.org!
